Bearing combination



Oct 1939- R. 1.. STRICKLAND BEARING COMBINATION Filed Dec. 19, 1938Patented Oct. 3 1, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BEARING OOIWBINATIONApplication December 19, 1938, Serial No. 246,543

4 Claims.

This invention relates to hearing combinations, such as those includinga shaft member and a bearing.

A known type of bearing for shafts consists of ii a soft liner member ona hard backing. The liner member conforms itself to minute variations incontour of. the shaft during the running-in period and also absorbsparticles which may be found in the normal clearance between the shaft30 and the bearing.

A disadvantage of such bearings is that the liner members have atendency to crack under load.

One object of the invention is to provide a 15 bearing combination inwhich this cracking tendency is reduced without impairment of thetendency of the liner member to conform to the shaft or to absorbparticles. This object I attain by providinga 'skin on that surface ofthe 20 liner member which is near the shaft member. The characteristicsof the skin will be described below.

Other objects and features of the invention will be brought out in thefollowing description 25 and claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 shows one half of a cylindrical sleeve type bearing of myinvention;

Fig. 2 shows two halves of a cylindrical or 30 sleeve type bearingassembled.

The drawing shows a sleeve type bearing consisting of two halves, eachcomprising a hard backing I0, a soft liner member H, and a skin l2. Thehalves meet on lines Hi to define space 35 i5 in which may rotate ashaft member, not shown. In the bearing shown, the backing is of hardsteel, and the liner member is a soft alloy, such as cadmium basebabbitt.

The present known characteristics and require- 40 ments of this skin areas follows: First, it retards cracking of the liner member. Second, ithas a lesser tendency to crack than does the liner member. Third, itdoes not impair the tendency of the liner member to conform to minutevaria- 45 tions in contour of the shaft member. Fourth, it does notprevent particles from escaping from the normal clearance between thebearing and the shaft member.

I have found metal to be satisfactory for the 50 skin.

I have also found that of the metals, chromium, copper, or nickel areparticularly suitable for the skin. In the bearing shown, copper is usedfor the skin.

68 I have found, as satisfactory for the skin, an

alloy coating or a copper-nickel coating comprising a thickness ofcopper and a thickness of nickel. I have found that the skin may well beformed of a plurality of layers of one or more of these or other metals.I have also found that the 5 skin may be formed on the lining in anysuitable manner, such as dipping, spraying, plating, fusing, highpressure, etc. I have also found that annealing, to form an alloybetween the liner member and the skin, has proven desirable.

I have also found that in some instances particles escape from thenormal clearance by penetrating the skin, but without cracking it, so asto be embedded, wholly or partially, within the liner member, and insome other instances the partl- 1 cles escape from the clearance byforming cavities or pockets in the liner member and seating themselvestherewithin, the cavities or pockets being indented into the linermember.

I have found that the skin, to be satisfactory, must be thick enough sothat it will function to lessenthe tendency of the liner member to crackunder load and yet be thin enough to permit the particles to penetrateit or indent it to the extent indicated. I have found that if the skinbe too thin, it will not be crack-free, nor will it lessen the tendencyof the liner member to crack; on the other hand, if too thick, the skinwill not be penetrable nor indentable by the particles that are found inthe normal clearance between the shaft member and bearing.

As examples of what I have found to be suitable bearings I give thefollowing examples:

(1) The backing was of low carbon steel, 2 inches in diameter, .037 inchthick; (2) The liner member was .015 inch thick and (a) a babbitt of 3%copper, 7% antimony, and 90% tin; (b) a babbitt of 1.3% nickel, 98.7%

cadmium;

(3) The skin was of pure copper, .00005 inch 40 thick; it was applied byelectroplating, using a current density of 15 amperes per square foot ina cyanide solution for approximately two minutes.

The bearing shown is in conformity with the foregoing.

Now having described a hearing which embodies my invention, I presentthe following 1 claims which define my invention.

I claim:

1. A hearing consisting of three integrally united layers, the outerones being a supporting layer and a bearing layer, respectively, thesupporting layer being of hard metal, the intermediate layer being of asoft readily conformll able particle absorbing bearing metal, and thebearing layer being a very thin hard coating or skin which preventscracking of the intermediate layer.

2. A bearing consisting of three integrally united layers, the outerones being a supporting layer and a bearing layer, respectively, thesupporting layer being of hard metal, the intermediate layer being of asoft readily conformable particle absorbing bearing metal, and thebearing layer being a very thin hard coating or skin which preventscracking of the intermediate layer and which is hard enough to resistcrackdiate layer being of a soft readily conformable particle absorbingbearing metal, and the bearing layer being a very thin hard coating orskin which prevents cracking of the intermediate layer and which is thinenough to permit particles to be absorbed by the intermediate layer.

4. A bearing consisting of three integrally united layers, the outerones being a supporting layer and a bearing layer, respectively, thesupporting layer being of hard metal, the intermediate layer being of asoft readily conformable particle absorbing bearing metal, and thebearing layer being a very thin hard coating or skin which preventscracking of the intermediate layer and which is hard enough to resistcracking and which is thin enough to permit particles to be absorbed bythe intermediate layer.

RANDOLPH L. BTRICKLAND.

